Penn State loses DB recruit Vincent

January 17, 2014

Just a day after New York defensive tackle Thomas Holley changed his mind about playing for the Nittany Lions and made a pledge to Florida, Washington D.C.-area defensive back Troy Vincent decommitted from Penn State on Thursday and decided to attend North Carolina State, Scout.com's Rachel Klein was first to report.

Vincent, who went to Gilman in Baltimore, is the son of the former NFL Pro Bowler of the same name. He committed to Penn State on June 26 and was one of seven Lion recruits whose pursuit was headed up by long-time defensive line coach Larry Johnson - Johnson took a job at Ohio State earlier this week.

According to Klein, Vincent spoke to new Penn State coach James Franklin before making the decision to switch his commitment.

Without Vincent, Penn State now has 20 commitments in its 2014 recruiting class. Franklin currently has offers out to several defensive backs that he previously recruited to Vanderbilt.

New RBs coach

Penn State's new running backs coach is Charles Huff, who worked for James Franklin at Vanderbilt.

Huff was an assistant running backs coach for the Commodores in 2011 and served that same role with the Buffalo Bills two years ago. He moved on to Western Michigan in 2013 as the lead running backs coach.

Huff, who also has coached at Hampton, Maryland and Tennessee State, replaces Charles London, who joined Bill O'Brien with the Houston Texans.

Franklin takes out ad

Franklin took out a half-page ad in The Tennessean newspaper on Thursday with a message to Vanderbilt fans, and it wound up becoming a talked-about story on social media.

The ad, which showed Franklin smiling and wearing a black Vanderbilt shirt read:

"Thank you,?Vanderbilt. It was a wonderful experience. I am forever grateful. Anchor down."